Here's what I'm discovering from the hundreds of journals and thousands (literally) of comments and discussions in which we have engaged. First, the skill base of the founders is central to the issue of success. Usually, it is one sided, either they are fish people, or they are dirt farmers, or neither. Most have little or no actual experience running the day to day operation of a business. Do not understand the supply chain, value chain and have no experience with sales and marketing ... in particular, Branding!

That, absent lots of luck is a sure fire formula for failure. They are often woefully undercapitalized and do not understand that 'overhead' is a cost of doing business... and of course spend nothing on promotion. AND... since they are essentially independent minded confident people they will not hire competent consultants and rely on the usual snake oil consultants who practice witchcraft online.

Then there is the product. It is possible to make money with a small system (under 10/20K sq ft) but you have to chose your crop wisely (spring mix, salad greens...not lettuce) A boutique system can work but I know of few that do Liz Kim at Genesis Clock Farm in CA’s system seems to be one. I would love to hear their story. I’ll ask them to write a guest blog for us.

I am so happy to hear about Ouroboros and their successful business. We should do a focused case study on them as it would provide great impetus for VC's and others who would like to invest but fear (that like the Borg) profitability is futile. We have lost more than one investor at the due diligence stage.

As to the large systems... most have already failed and there are a number that are just starting. I know I have become the curmudgeon here but understand that I am and have been attempting to fund a minimum scaled (45K sqft) automated vertically integrated AP system for three years now! I have sunk every dime I ever made into this and am only now on the brink of getting off the ground. I WANT to know others have succeeded. I am a fan not a denigrator.

​I will try to practice what I have been preaching and you can all be certain we will keep a visual and statistical record of our development and publish everything as transparency not secrecy is what we all need if we are going to save this planet ...we must work together.

"To expect hundreds of thousands of acres of greenhouse farming to replace open farm ground is unreasonable, yet controlled environment production is a rapidly-growing niche market."

Vertical on-the-vine tomatoes growing at the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center in Tucson.

Anticipate hungry hoards in the years to come.

In Africa, agriculture professor Gert Venter warns, “By the year 2050, predictions show 85 percent of a total world population in excess of 9 billion people will live and work in megacities, but these mighty cities have a terrible flaw different from all other cities in history - they cannot feed themselves.”

This article was recently published in Western Farm Press. In it Chuck Petras describes the growth of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) as an adjunct and partial alternative to traditional field farming of crops. Indeed the potential far exceeds Mr. Petras’s vision.

Coupled with a RAS Aquaponics systems, CEA is a portent of the City of the Future. Successful urban communities will require new commercial structures to offset the loss of more traditional manufacturing as a means to create value and infrastructure. Food production facilities located in the inner cities themselves will provide food, clean water, and abundant energy from available biomass. Sustainable farming will be a global necessity and organizations that see the future mired in climate change and struggling to offset the impact of global warming, rising oceans and the depletion of natural sources of seafood will be the hero’s of the new economy.

The Family Fish Farms Network, Inc. will be on the van of this technology as it continues to pioneer innovation and initiative in the green high tech economy.

Economic Viability and Profitability have always been the mantra of Corporate management and for good reason. No profit, no business. BUT ... Now, we're seeing large corporations finally begin to move the term from Green Wash (just more PR) to using it as a potential asset of the corporation. The Environment has taken the next rung down on the ladder just behind profit. It is still not the most important priority but sustainability has moved into second place because the company's reputation with the new class of consumers has economic value in the market place.Environmental Soundness is only one of the three components of a Sustainable business that gets attention and it is VERY important. However, it's not all there is to be a sustainable and responsible corporate citizen. Sustainability has three components: Economic Viability, Environmental Soundness, and Social Responsibility. The Business and Popular Press focus on the Environment but there's more. Social Responsibility - According to the Supreme Court, The Corporation is a person and personhood brings with it some obligations and 'responsibilities,' like Citizenship. That is the opinion of more and more of today's consumers who are beginning to demand a more pro active role, that of good corporate citizenship. The new green and high tech sector has always had a social dimension to their commercial personas ... Google most of all with it's free food and lodgings at their HQ ...Apple is also noted for it's very very generous perks but both of these are focused upon their employees. Enlightened Self-Interest is the driving force behind the Social Responsibility movement ... not a bad thing. The incentives to a more open outreach by the corporation to it's immediate environment or engagement of its vast economic and marketing influence can become significant. It's good business to encourage social benefit, as well as an obvious and appropriate activity. Dannon, for example the large French food producer partnered with Dr. Muhammed Yunus to form a company that produced enriched yogurt for the malnourished children of India and Bangladesh and there are emergent expamples appearing everywhere. Corporations are reaching out to their local communities and Corporations are not the only one's. Anchor Institutions like Hospitals, Universities, and Municipal Governments have also begun to see the value of improved social investment in their respective neighborhoods and adjacent communities as such improvements enhance the quality of life for all concerned.The trend is obvious ... Social Responsibility is and will become the next major requirement for a Sustainable Business! AMEN !!!!

Ronald Reagan drove a stake into the heart of organized labor while advanced automation in the form of tools and smart programs eliminated whole job classifications. Then the 1% robbed the banks.I consider myself a post modern realist. I am neither a Libertarian, a progressive, nor am I a conservative. I believe in the U.S. Constitution as drafted in the 18th Century and in the spirit of individual liberty but also in the context of a present day ethos.Surely the job of Government is to provide for the general welfare but it is also to assure and maintain a condition of social justice and fairness'. In other words to maintain an equilibrium, a just balance within the society, a level playing field on which all may equally compete. (sustainability) The spectacular rise of the Corporation in the latter half of the 19th and early 20th Century gave rise to the Robber Barons smacked down by Teddy Roosevelt only to rise again like the once disgraced Standard Oil Company that morphed into Esso, then Exxon whose roots are deeply embedded in the most egregious and nefarious of business practices.The Sherman Anti Trust act was designed to thwart just those corporate behaviors that are common in today's board rooms and strategic planning sessions. Instead of trusts the newspeak refers to these as alliance partnerships and their meetings are held in international venues away from the prying eyes of reporters and others who would expose the their monopolistic intent. Ours is NOT an economically Sustainable Democracy and to survive it must become one.

What has happened here is that our government has moved steadily away from a representative democracy. The U.S Government's victory over the corporate monopolies was an illusory win.. We won the battle but lost the war. Using the power of money, the corporate strategists simply co-opted the government itself. We maintain the mythology of Democracy while operating as an Oligarchy, moving rapidly to a full blown Plutocracy where the members of the government and the members of the financial elite are on the same side of the table. Instead of becoming regulators, our agencies, populated by pro industry experts, have become enablers and confidants of the very people over whom they are tasked with oversight and regulation.... give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws - Barron RothschildThe recent financial crisis proves the point that regulators are impotent in the face of massive political pressure and emasculated by industry insiderss who block every effort by well intentioned regulators to effect a modicum of control. Again and again in the Food industry and others we see the inability of regulators to gain control over run away profiteering on the part of those who flaunt the rules with relative impunity. Using the tax system, the 1%, under a succession of pliant congresses gradually and then with increasing aggression removed the controls and barriers to collusion and conspiracy creating massive capital shift out of the hands of the middle class and into the pockets of the corporate and financial elite.

The End of a Sustainable America(1980 The Great Regression Begins)

What we have seen here over the last 45 years has been a concerted and coordinated attack on the middle class and the demonetization of America's working population. A brazen manipulation of our nation's monetary system and the pending death of the middle class.

The word Sustainable, has become a modern day cliche. It has been used as every part of speech from noun, adjective, adverb, even a gerund and as it has been increasingly exploited it has begun to lose meaning. When everything is 'sustainable,' nothing is 'sustainable.' Which brings me to the reason for this post. I pose this question ... Is it too much in the first quarter of the 21st Century, after 300 years of this experiment in the creation of a more perfect union, is it too much for our America, our government of the people - to seek to become S-U-S-T-A-I-N-A-B-L-E ! Is it not possible for all of us to live in a: SUSTAINABLE AMERICAWhat would a Sustainable America look like? Implicitly, when we say sustainable we mean these three basic domains: Economics, Environment, and Social. Let's take them one at a time:Economic Sustainability - Well we could argue about it and as Americans we argue about everything so ... here's my take on it. An economically sustainable America would be one in which each and every person was able to economically sustain themselves and their family . It would be an America in which our city, state, and particularly our federal government would seek the same goals even allowing for mutual interdependence, the use of productive credit and a more equitable sharing of the abundance that this country produces - not equal sharing just more equitable and of course, true equal opportunity, not equal results but ... actually equal opportunity in economic terms.Environmental Sustainability - This is what we hear about the most today and for good reason. The governance of past generations has ignored one of the first principles of good governance: Sustainabiity! I will not repeat the litany of environmental offense we have committed for in truth it was not always out of veniality or greed (though mostly) there were wars. In the final analysis we have to come down on the side of, well ... perfidy. We just did not give a .....Social Sustainability - Here is where most painful and morally bankrupt evidence of the failure of governance is felt. This is the most egrigious failure of all as we have squandered millions and millions of lives and it is not war to which I refer, it is in condeming whole generations to worthless toil, worthless jobs, anf now increasingly more and more, for worthless money. In this we have permitted some to unbalance the playing field so that those at the bottom are so disadvantaged that the vast majority can never attain a safe haven of social stability.Summary & Conclusion - I realize fully that this is a shallow and unscholarly piece. It is essentially an essay and not a very good one either, but still it makes my point. AMERICA needs to rethink the operating model and priorities or we will no be a Great Nation, nor will we deserve to be ... Today, we filed an application with The Federal Election Commission to form a Super PAC. The name is:Sustain America !“My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right”Carl Schultz Union Army General, Statesman 1865Jerome PeloquinPresidentThe Family Fish Farms Network, Inc.717 Lawrence Street, NEWashington, DC, 20017

Vertical on-the-vine tomatoes growing at the University of Arizona Controlled Environment Agriculture Center in Tucson.

Grow here, eat here will be the motto of urban agriculture and Aquaponics will be in the forefront of food production in the balance of the 21st Century. As climate change begins to bite global cities will adapt and become totally food secure.University of Arizona’s Controlled Environment Agriculture Center

To expect hundreds of thousands of acres of greenhouse farming to replace open farm ground is unreasonable, yet controlled environment production is a rapidly-growing niche market."

Anticipate hungry hoards in the years to come.In Africa, agriculture professor Gert Venter warns, “By the year 2050, predictions show 85 percent of a total world population in excess of 9 billion people will live and work in mega-cities, but these mighty cities have a terrible flaw different from all other cities in history - they cannot feed themselves.”This article was recently published in Western Farm Press. In it Chuck Petras describes the growth of CEA (Controlled Environment Agriculture) as an adjunct and partial alternative to traditional field farming of crops. Indeed the potential far exceeds Mr. Petras’s vision.Coupled with a RAS Aquaponics systems, CEA is a portent of the City of the Future. Successful urban communities will require new commercial structures to offset the loss of more traditional manufacturing as a means to create value and infrastructure. Food production facilities located in the inner cities themselves will provide food, clean water, and abundant energy from available biomass. Sustainable farming will be a global necessity and organizations that see the future mired in climate change and struggling to offset the impact of global warming, rising oceans and the depletion of natural sources of seafood will be the hero’s of the new economy.The Family Fish Farms Network, Inc. will be on the van of this technology as it continues to pioneer innovation and initiative in the green high tech economy.

Actor and activist Hugh Jackman, a long time friend of Ethiopia and sympathetic to the plight of the small-holder coffee farmers, has launched a campaign to finally bring economic and social justice to these long suffering and exploited people. Our company The Family Fish Farms Network, Inc. is a partner in a team of social entrepreneurs working to bring relief to the long suffering small holder farmers in Ethiopia and in Africa. We intend to use aquaponics to provide sustenance (fish and vegetables) along with another cash crop to diversify their growing and provide food security.Our partner in a this African economic development effort is Mr. Tadesse Meskela, an Agricultural Economist, and General Manager of The Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. Tedesse is the hero of Ethiopian coffee farmers who, by his efforts saved 300,000 farmers from pending starvation by cutting out middle men and raising the percentage of global coffee revenue paid to the farmers from 1% in 2007 to 10% today! He is the subject of an award winning documentary, Black GoldMr. Jackman’s new documentary due to be released in July. The video: Dukales Dream is going to achieve worldwide attention! We applaud Mr. Jackman’s commitment to economic justice and his investment and initiative. His efforts will bring the world’s attention to the unfair exploitation of these poor hard working farmers. Exploitation that has been engineered by the multi nationals and their representatives on the World Trade Organization who block every effort to create a more equitable agreement with the farmers. Jackman is dedicated to make a difference and we can help.We should join forces, along with Tadesse, The Africa Sustainable Economic Initiative (ASEI) intends to raise the standard of living for millions of small holder farmer in exactly the same way Tadesse did this for the 300,000 members of his cooperative union. Our process: Organize, Stabilize, Diversify, and Expand. We can do this. Mr Jackman’s ability to mobilize support and Mr. Meskela’s knowledge of the global coffee markets and African small holder farms can really force attention on the larger problem of African poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.

Hugh Jackman is a hero, not in the imaginary world of movies but in the real hard copy world of global poverty. His battles are not with evil fictional film characters but with real life exploiters of the poor farmers of Ethiopia. You can be a cynic if you like and say, "...it's just publicity." and, yes, Jackman is, for anyone who has seen him perform, a skilled thespian. He is also, like the super hero, Wolverine a fierce and committed adversary. A man who sincerely believes in the adage, … become the change you seek … that is exactly what has happened here !

Dukales Dream is a testimony to Mr. Jackman's developing relationship with an illiterate young Ethiopian coffee farmer, struggling to feed, clothe and educate his family. Once you see them working together, side-by-side down in the rich alluvial soil of Ethiopia, we see that manual labor is the great equalizer. Down in the dirt, all men are equal. The experience proves a strong bonding mechanism and one cannot help but share in that nascent friendship, watching Hugh Jackman and Dukales communicate through the common language of the farmer.Like Tedesse Meskela before him, Jackman succeeds in putting a human face on the plight of the exploited and in doing so gives us all insight into just how selfish and venal we are to permit these kind, sincere, decent fellow human beings to suffer so we can have that vente or grande every morning. Meskela succeeded in using the documentary, Black Gold to effect profound economic and social change in the lives of the coffee farmers. His effectiveness brought in millions of dollars in additional revenue to the farmers in his cooperative.It should be obvious that there is a strong and relevant synergy here. Meskela and Jackman, working cooperatively, could fundamentally change the system that oppresses small holder commodity farmers all over Africa. While improvements in the lives of Ethiopian Coffee Farmers still are needed, the fundamental problem lies in global trade policies that permit such exploitation. Tedesse Meskela is an Agricultural Economist with extensive business and diplomatic experience. Together, Mr. Jackman and Mr. Meskela would make a powerful force for much needed change.

There are two issues we absolutely need to address if we are to give AP the same market opportunities HP growers have. Many growers drop AP in favor of HP for the simple (and logical) reason that, "...there's no money to be made in Aquaponics." AND .... they're right. Especially if making money is your main goal.IF you believe that as currently practiced, AP is a business to pursue for profit, then you are either a genius (like me) or, incredibly innocent, ignorant, or both. With very few exceptions, no one, certainly no venture company is investing in AP today!

The first problem is water chemistry management. HP adds every bit of nutrient necessary for their plants to grow and they do so with optimum control over the environment, hence, CEA Controlled Environment Agriculture. Since we have two bio-active systems (animals and plants) working symbiotically, we do not have the same control as does HP. Until we achieve that level of control over all dependent variables, we will not be able to compete effectively. HP is high quality and highly dependable .. something most AP growers cannot achieve.

The second problem is 'scale,' profitable AP farms can be hundreds of thousands of sq.ft and with that kind of production, they have the funds to brand and automate ...most AP farms do not have that economic muscle.

Our goal is not ONLY to make money but to create a sustainable food system. To me SUSTAIN - able means: Economic Viability (ya'gotta make positive cash flow and a profit) Environmental Soundness, (cause the least possible harm to the environment) and three: Social Responsibility (do not exploit others) Our goal is not Wealth for the Few BUT - Prosperity for the many.

No, I did not take a vow of poverty ... it's just worked out that way !!!

Tomorrow, I am taking part of my team to Baltimore. We're planning to launch an Aquaponics training and production farm in Sandtown, the epicenter of the revolt and a focal point for our societies failure to deal with the dissolution of our cities urban cores. Our intended partners are major Baltimore businesses and institutions who will both provide initial support and ongoing patronage. Ours is a for profit (although our non profit www.microventuresupport.org will provide services and resources), market driven effort! We intend to build, train,and eventually (2 to 3 years) turn the operation over completely to a community cooperative, owned by the residents of Sandtown.We will engage with Dr. Frank Shipper from Salisbury State (UMD) and author of 'Shared Entrepreneurship.' http://tinyurl.com/p8l8grl I intend to use the development models employed by The Grameen Shakti and foundation where I once served as consultant and Jami Bora from Nairobi http://jamiibora.net/ in Kenya, as well as, BRAC another very successful economic and social development organization. I'm sending this on to you as you may number among your associates, those who would be interested in both the social and business models we plan to employ and could perhaps provide some initial encouragement or potentially investment.I am bringing an in kind investment from Farms in a Box of one half million dollars, with another amount equal to that dependent upon economic sustainability. We will also leverage The Farm Services Admin. loan for minority and disadvantaged first time farmers loans to initially help fund the start up.Make no mistake, we intend this to be a profitable business AND to revitalize and re energize the Sandtown section of Baltimore as this will form the nexus of that rebirth. Wish us luck.